Lubricant compound



Patented Feb. 2,- 1937- PATENT OFFICE LUBRICANT COMPOUND Theodore G. Roehner, Malverne, N. Y.,-assignor UNITED STATES to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York 'No Drawing. Application .July 3, 1334,

Serial No. 733,609

'2 Claims. (Cl. 879) finished articles, prior to storage, are coated with slushing oils to prevent rusting while in storage. Finished articles and finished and semi-finished stocks, destined for shipment by rail or by water, must be protected against'the attack of moisture by a coating of slushing oil. Semi-finished stocks in process require this protection, particularly when the finish of the completed article is to be obtained merely by polishing or burnishing the surface of the stock. Particularly outstanding examples of this class are strip stock used in the manufacture of razor blades, which must be inspected literally inch by inch, and which must t undergo such inspection and similar handling without retaining the inspectors fingerprints, and cold rolled strip steel to, be used for such things as the handles on electric irons, etc., which must likewise be free from the marks of handling or of other corrosion.

This invention has to do with the production of a novel slushing oil adapted for these various purposes and containing as a characterizing ingredient, a proportion of pine fatty acids. The

30 invention is based upon the discovery that a slushing oilhaving new and advantageous properties not heretofore attained in this class of compounds can be produced by the use of pine fatty acids in the manner described below.

These pine fatty acids, which I have discovered to be, useful for the purposes discussed herein, are apparently true fatty-acids, obtained by fractional distillation of fatty matter separated from pine wood in the course of cooking by the alka- 40 line process for the manufacture of wood pulp.

. AS an indjpation'of the nature of these compounds, I may give the following test data Titer of separated fattyacids (ASTML- 50-90 Color' (ASTM colorimeter) Dark 8 or lighter Saybolt universal viscosity 100 F 100-600 5 Flash (ASTM open cup) 250 raMm. Free fatty acids (ASTM) 90% Min. Ash content (ignition) Trace-0.1%

From the ,abovedata it may be seen that these 5 "pine fatty acids do not partake of the character of other commonly used pine derivatives, but are true fatty acids. They are for instance quite distinct from the pine oils which are essentially terpene-like in character, and from rosin, which is essentially abietic acid of vary- 5 ing degrees of purity, abietic acid being of dif-, ferent-properties from those indicated above.

I have found that a small proportion 'of these pine fatty acids, whenblended with commercial mineral oil fractions of the proper kind, afi'ordm an efiicient protection of the metal treated, as for instance in the protection of razor blade stock from the corrosive action of fingerprints. Previously known slushing oils have usually been composed of such compounds as petrolatum 5 and/or mineral pitches, petroleum pitches and like compounds, diluted. with kerosene, spindle oil, or light solvent oils. Frequently, use has been made of inorganic chromates dissolved in various mineral oils. A very popular class of prior art slushing compounds has "been composed of animal fats such as degras, wool fat, lanolin, tallow oil, e'tc., dissolved in, kerosene or similar solvents. An extremely popular compound of this kind has been anhydrous lanolin dissolved in a proper mineral oil. The popularity of this compound has been due to an undoubted superiority over all other prior'art compounds, which su periorlty has been generally accepted.

I have discovered that the use,of pine fatty acids in the manner described herein gives rise to slushing oils greatly superior to the lanolin compounds. As an example of the superiority of the slushing compounds made according to this invention, over lanolin slushing oils, I may cite the fact that, in a commercial-plant engaged in the,m anufac.ture of razor blades, and-using a slur-hing compound composed of anhydrous Ian-'- olin and mineral oil, it was necessary for the workmen to keep their hands very heavily 0 dered with moisture-absorbing powder, and even with these precautions, there was a fairly high rejection rate on fingerprinted razor bladestock. Uponv replacing the old style slushing oil with one containing pine fatty acids in accordance with this invention, the rejection'rate due to fin gerprinting dropped nearly to zero. As a matter of fact, numerous tests have indicated that under ordinary commercial conditions, itis probably entirely possible to handle razor blade stock which has-been slushed with my preferred compound, without even the precaution of powder- 3 ing the hands. As a further example of the efii-- cacy of these compounds for the protection of metals against corrosion, the handling of cold rolled strip steel and shipment of it by barge for a considerable distance coastwise may be mentioned. The stock was slush ed prior to packing, with a compound of mineral oil and semi-refined degras which the manufacturer had found by previous experience to be the most effective for his use of the slushing oils available upon the market It was packed at the waterfront under what might be described as conditions very desirablen for salt-air corrosion, and was placed in boxes lined with paraffin paper. The rejection 'rateof corroded stock'was fairly high as the finishing'operation was merely a bufiing of the surface of the stock after forming into fiat iron handles. Upon substituting for the old slushing oil, a new slushing oil containing pine fatty acids in accordance withthis invention,

and without changing any of the other conditions, the rejections due to corrosion dropped practically to zero.

It is my .belief that this superior protective ability inherent in slushing oil compounds prepared with pine fatty acids according to this invention, is due to-the wetting characteristics of thesecofnpoundsThe-slushing oil so compounded appears to so wet the. steel that it is not ordinarily displaced by perspiration or atmos'pheric moisture, or corrosive agents-of similar nature.

As an example of one preferred formula which I have found applicable for the above purposes, namely, those of protecting metals against the corrosive attack of moisture, etc., I present:

Percent Pine fatty acids 3 Light parafiin oil 48 Kerosene 48 Steam distillate pine oil 1 In this formula the pine oil ingredient is pres-- ent for the purpose of lending an agreeable odor. Another formula I have found to be widely applicable is:

. Per cent ine fatty acids 3.4 Amber petrolatum 11.4 Light parafiin oi1 85.2

The characteristics of the slushing compound I: desired are determined largely by the nature of and intended destination of the material to be protected by such slushing oils. For instance, the manufacturer of razor blades who desires to protect his product during intermediate processing, usually wants a protective film of the maximum thinness and hardness consistent with the protection obtained, while'as an opposite extreme,the manufacturer'who is shipping a heavy assembled piece of machinery overseas might desire a slushing compound which will not onlygive an extremely thick protective film, but which will be somewhat of the nature of a grease and have some lubricating properties, so that it need -not be disturbed when the machinery is placed in operation, but might be gradually displaced by the lubricant used. To obtain the light, thin hard" film desired in cases of .interprocess protection, it is preferred toblend the pine fatty acids with such material as kerosenes and ex- 5 tremely light "lubricants in varying proportions.

To obtain the heavy slushing oils, it is preferred to use increasing percentages of petrolatum or similar body-giving ingredients, and compounds of all desired consistencies between these two extremes may be obtained by varying the nature and character of the ingredients. It is' even desirable in certain cases, to use animal fats in the slushing oil compound, such as lanolin or degras, and similar fats, or to use vegetable fats such as japan wax or siinilar fats, or even to use waxes of various origins, such as paraflin wax, or camauba wax. Experimentation has developed the fact that the effective range for the concentration of I pine fatty acids in such slushing oils is probably 30 between 1% and 5% of the total compound, with an indicated maximum effective balance of protective ability and cost ataround 3%. The

range of compositions indicated for these slushing oils is probably best expressed by the following tabulation:

Range Preferred ior Ingredient Min. Max. Light Heavy l Pine fatty acids... 1 5 l- 3 l- 3 Light paraflin oil 0 99 30-60 99-60 Kerosene 0 90 60-30 Petrolatum 0 50 0-5) In case vegetable fats, animal fats, or waxes are added to the composition, they may generally be present in amounts up to about 20% of. the total and the primary mixture to which they are added 40 may be any of the. above indicated mixtures, as dictatedby the conditions of use. The method of compounding these slushing oils is merely one of physical admixture of the various ingredients.

I claim: 5 1. An oil composition for application to metal surfaces to protect them from corrosion incidental to handling, inspection, or normal exposure, by forming a coating notably resistant to displacementby moisture, comprising a mineral oil distillate, p'etrolatum, and pine fatty Per cent Pine fatty acids 3' to 5 Amber petrolatum 8 to 15 Light paraflin oil 89 to THEODORE G. ROEHNER. 

